Everything you need to know about
Nominee shareholder
and how to get one!
😜 Follow me 😜
What is a nominee shareholder?
A Nominee Shareholder is simply a person designed (or “nominated”) as a shareholder of a company instead of someone else. That person can be a natural person or a company.
Why use a Nominee Shareholder?
There are a number of reasons why you would need a nominee shareholder:
- legal requirements (you need to be 2 or more persons to create a certain type of company, or only shareholders of a certain nationality are are allowed)
- facilitate the buying or selling (of shares?) for clients (as sometimes stamp duty can be due)
- ease the local administration or local management (faster than remotely)
- privacy
Does it work everywhere?
No:
- i vissa jurisdiktioner den ultimata förmånstagarens ägare (HOSTA) eller personen med betydande kontroll (PSC) måste avslöjas. Ibland publiceras de i ett offentligt register (som i Storbritannien).
- de flesta banker behöver känna till UBO eller PSC så det kommer att behöva avslöjas.
Vem kan vara förvaltare?
Det beror på jurisdiktionen:
- i vissa länder är det helt gratis (som USA), med det enda kravet att vara vuxen
- i vissa andra länder är det (kraftigt) reglerad: du skulle behöva vara auktoriserad & godkänd, eller vara av en specifik (rättslig) yrke, eller vara ett auktoriserat företag, eller vara licensierad på ett eller annat sätt.
Finns det någon risk?
Ja, det finns många risker kring förvaltade aktieägare.
Förvaltningsägaren måste vara en pålitlig person eftersom den representerar en juridisk ägare till ett företag, and as such as power to do things with that company (like resell the shares, access the company bank account, etc). This is of course illegal and it is a breach of trust.
On the other hand: there is a risk for a Nominee Shareholder to act as a Nominee if the company is engaging into illicit commerce.
To mitigate those risks: the customer assesses the trustfulness of the Nominee Shareholder, and the Nominee Shareholder assesses the risk of its customer. A contract (Nominee Shareholder Agreement) is usually signed as a the legal proof of service.
What is a Nominee Shareholder Agreement?
Also called a “Deed of Trust” or “Declaration of Trust”, a Nominee Shareholder Agreement is a private contract which sets the details and scope of actions of the Nominee Shareholder. It is the only legal proof that the Nominee Shareholder is acting on behalf of someone else.
Is there any TAX IMPLICATIONS?
Usually the Nominee Shareholder is considered the legal recipient of the dividends (if any), thus the tax implications fall in the Nominee Shareholder’s hands.
Is there any alternative?
When possible: a new company could be created (in another country), and this company could then act as the needed shareholder (in the other country). But that increases costs considerably, or sometimes it is not legally permitted (because some countries could require to have only natural persons).
How much is it?
The price can vary considerably, some companies charge thousands of dollars per year for this service. But when the risk is low, a nominee shareholder can be cheap. Our offer is: £79 GBP per year (less than €100/year or US$120/year).